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Reuter’s on Venezuela: Oil output goes AWOL in Venezuela as soldiers run PDVSA

Kin5290

Kin5290

Member
Oct 26, 2017
3,390
Special Report: Oil output goes AWOL in Venezuela as soldiers run PDVSA

Last July 6, Major General Manuel Quevedo joined his wife, a Catholic priest and a gathering of oil workers in prayer in a conference room at the headquarters of Petroleos de Venezuela SA, or PDVSA.

The career military officer, who for the past year has been boss at the troubled state-owned oil company, was at no ordinary mass. The gathering, rather, was a ceremony at which he and other senior oil ministry officials asked God to boost oil output.
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Soldiers with AK-47s, under orders to prevent cheating on manifests, now board tankers to accompany cargo inspectors, rattling foreign captains and crews.

Workers who make mistakes operating increasingly dilapidated PDVSA equipment now face the risk of arrest and charges of sabotage or corruption. Military chieftains, moonlighting in the private sector, are elbowing past other contractors for lucrative service and supply business with PDVSA.

In a little-noted reversal of the Socialist government's two-decade drive to nationalize the industry, the lack of expertise among military managers is leading PDVSA to hire outsiders to keep afloat even basic operations, like drilling and pumping oil. To the dismay of many familiar with Venezuela's oil industry, some of the contracts are going to small, little-known firms with no experience in the sector...

Maduro defends the military managers, arguing they are more in synch with his Socialist worldview than capitalist industry professionals who exploit the country for personal profit. "I want a Socialist PDVSA," the president told allied legislators earlier this year. "An ethical, sovereign and productive PDVSA. We must break this model of the rentier oil company."
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PDVSA is struggling to fulfill supply contracts with buyers, including major creditors from China and Russia who have already advanced billions of dollars in payments in exchange for oil. Last month, the head of Rosneft, the Russian oil company, flew to Venezuela and complained to Maduro about the delays, Reuters reported.

Demand remains healthy for Venezuelan oil. Operational problems under Quevedo, however, have caused production to drop 20 percent to 1.46 million barrels per day, according to the latest figures Caracas reported to OPEC, the oil cartel, of which it is a member.
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It's been a long time since we've heard much from Venezuela, but things haven't gotten better since Maduro was able to consolidate power. Unfortunately with the military holding the reins of one of Venezuela's few profitable export industries and apparently driving it into the ground I don't see how things can improve for the Venezuelan people.
 
Mugy

Mugy

Member
Oct 28, 2017
3,424
As someone who is still here (aside from maybe Machado), i hate this country. I didn't eat a single thing for christmas (only bread and water), i didn't get any presents (who can afford them?), and i don't eve have internet. Im stealing a wifi from my laptop because the people who works for the state company (CANTV), can't come to my place to fix it and they are asking for 100$ USD to solve my problem, money that i don't have and is not even the currency of Venezuela.

I haven't bought clothes in 3 years, and i just recently god a pair of sneakers because a friend from australia send me 100$. A user from ERA helped me build a computer that was supposed to be use to work from my home, but the constants blackouts killed my hardrives, so i cannot do that either.

Im doing my papers to leave this country like most people, but its expensive as hell. Of those 100$ a friend from australia send me via paypal, i had to pay 40$ just to get an appoinment to legalize my professional papers. I don't even have a phone either and i distract myself using twitter, resetera, and trying to state communicate with some other friends i meet on the internet, because all of my friends either left the country or they were killed.

This sucks, don't ever come here, ever.
 
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Kin5290

Kin5290

Member
Oct 26, 2017
3,390
Mugy said:
As someone who is still here (aside from maybe Machado), i hate this country. I didn't eat a single thing for christmas (only bread and water), i didn't get any presents (who can afford them?), and i don't eve have internet. Im stealing a wifi from my laptop because the people who works for the state company (CANTV), can't come to my place to fix it and they are asking for 100$ USD to solve my problem, money that i don't have and is not even the currency of Venezuela.

I haven't bought clothes in 3 years, and i just recently god a pair of sneakers because a friend from australia send me 100$. A user from ERA helped me build a computer that was supposed to be use to work from my home, but the constants blackouts killed my hardrives, so i cannot do that either.

Im doing my papers to leave this country like most people, but its expensive as hell. Of those 100$ a friend from australia send me via paypal, i had to pay 40$ just to get an appoinment to legalize my professional papers. I don't even have a phone either and i distract myself using twitter, resetera, and trying to state communicate with some other friends i meet on the internet, because all of my friends either left the country or they were killed.

This sucks, don't ever come here, ever.
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That really sucks. Hopefully you can find a way to get out of the country and stay safe until then.
 
Ogodei

Ogodei

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criesofthepast

criesofthepast

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Oct 25, 2017
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Mugy said:
As someone who is still here (aside from maybe Machado), i hate this country. I didn't eat a single thing for christmas (only bread and water), i didn't get any presents (who can afford them?), and i don't eve have internet. Im stealing a wifi from my laptop because the people who works for the state company (CANTV), can't come to my place to fix it and they are asking for 100$ USD to solve my problem, money that i don't have and is not even the currency of Venezuela.

I haven't bought clothes in 3 years, and i just recently god a pair of sneakers because a friend from australia send me 100$. A user from ERA helped me build a computer that was supposed to be use to work from my home, but the constants blackouts killed my hardrives, so i cannot do that either.

Im doing my papers to leave this country like most people, but its expensive as hell. Of those 100$ a friend from australia send me via paypal, i had to pay 40$ just to get an appoinment to legalize my professional papers. I don't even have a phone either and i distract myself using twitter, resetera, and trying to state communicate with some other friends i meet on the internet, because all of my friends either left the country or they were killed.

This sucks, don't ever come here, ever.
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Pana ven a chile. Do you have a degree? Where you planning on going?
 
Machado

Machado

A friend is worth more than a million Venezuelan$
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Oct 26, 2017
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criesofthepast said:
Pana ven a chile. Do you have a degree? Where you planning on going?
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Bro! How you been? I tried contacting you on the old country but you never replied my pm.

I hope everything is well on your end. Canada never answered my immigration application. I'm almost set document wise to go to Chile!
 
PeskyToaster

PeskyToaster

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Oct 27, 2017
15,312
Man it sounds like the country is on the verge of collapse. I feel for the people caught up in this. Hard to read some of the stories like those from Machado and the one Mugy just posted.
 
Machado

Machado

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There's probably a defense force for this too. The country is in shambles. This is inexcusable.

Fuck communism and socialism.
 

Deleted member 8561

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PeskyToaster said:
Man it sounds like the country is on the verge of collapse. I feel for the people caught up in this. Hard to read some of the stories like those from Machado and the one Mugy just posted.
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It's a de-facto failed state.

The only reason the government hasn't collapsed is because they have centralized a small group of loyal followers who are the ones that get paid (and don't have to deal with hyperinflation), get fed and are protected.
 
PeskyToaster

PeskyToaster

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Oct 27, 2017
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makingmusic476

makingmusic476

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Oct 26, 2017
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It amazes me how spectacularly bad their nationalization of the oil industry has gone.

I think government taking over industry as opposed to creating it is always going to go poorly. Imagine if the US never established USPS, and instead decided to nationalize UPS one day. So many would get fucked in the process.
 
Dekuman

Dekuman

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Oct 27, 2017
19,026
Lula's Brazil was also held up as a model during the commodity boom. The left certainly has a problem picking winners.
 
Funky Papa

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OP
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Kin5290

Kin5290

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Oct 26, 2017
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makingmusic476 said:
It amazes me how spectacularly bad their nationalization of the oil industry has gone.

I think government taking over industry as opposed to creating it is always going to go poorly. Imagine if the US never established USPS, and instead decided to nationalize UPS one day. So many would get fucked in the process.
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As mentioned in the article, they're actually kind of de-nationalizing the industry by bringing in private contractors, but the contracting procedure is insanely non transparent and the companies winning the contracts don't have a long history of working in oil production (which just screams graft on the part of the Generals keeping Maduro propped up).
 

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House_Of_Lightning said:
At some point in time "Socialists" will need to decide whether or not trying to reclaim the word "Socialism" from State Capitalists is worth the fight or not.

But then again, that just gives State Capitalists the Win. :-/
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Well, honestly I guess it's not the term that matters, but rather the actual policies. Unfortunately many people seem to put their faith in a person/group based more on how they describe themselves/are described rather than what they actually do/believe.
 
Bregor

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The nationalization of the oil industry wasn't the direct cause of it's collapse in production. That was due to the Chavez (and later Maduro) regimes installing managers based upon loyalty and ideological purity rather on their knowledge and competency. It's a subtle distinction, and I suppose you could argue that it is a distinction without a difference, but it is worth keeping in mind.
 
Funky Papa

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BuT VeNeZueLa iS nOt SoCiaLisT/ComMunIst

That an ideology can't never quite achieve its goals, irrevocably leads to widespread sistemic corruption on a genuinely epic scale and/or actively requires the mass murder/incarceration/neutralisation of political oposition to get anywhere close to them should tell you enough about its feasibility.

I'm all for the nationalisation of critical industries and services, but folks carrying water for literal socialism/communism (which is not the same as socialdemocracy) need to do some fucking instrospection.
 
Kirblar

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Funky Papa said:
It should be noted that back in the day pretty much everybody to the left of Friedman's stinky mummy was singing praises to Chavez. Even superduper moderate faux left centrists in Europe.

Its only understandable that some people don't like to talk about those days.
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It's very much something worth pulling receipts on (much like say, Greenwald's Iraq War advocacy), because they doubled down hard on what should have been an obvious sham.
 
House_Of_Lightning

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Iceman said:
Machado is a history teacher in Venezuela. It's not like he's taking an uninformed stab in the dark.
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There's a rift within "socialist circles". "Socialism" has two definitions within these circles. One being the "state capitalist" ideological model of the USSR, PRC, Venezuela, Cuba, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, etc where the State assumes ownership of society and employer of labor and arbiter between production and the commodity market. The other being the stateless, commodityless, propertyless form of society that transcends Capitalist society the same way Capitalism transcended Feudalism. It isn't ideological but is instead simply "the way of life".

The former has won out as to what people think of when someone says "socialism".
 

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Just need to cook it a bit longer.

Just a little longer... say... another 80 years? Don't want this baby undercooked now do we?
 
lunarworks

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House_Of_Lightning said:
At some point in time "Socialists" will need to decide whether or not trying to reclaim the word "Socialism" from State Capitalists is worth the fight or not.

But then again, that just gives State Capitalists the Win. :-/
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Meanwhile, we need a new term for cases like Canada and much of Europe where socialist policies like universal healthcare exist alongside capitalism. The umbrella term of "socialism" just paints everything in a bad light.
 
Machado

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I think I need to make my point across as I may have been interpreted incorrectly.

I do what socialism/communism is. I prolly know more than I should about this LOL. And poster who quoted me is 100% right in saying what Venezuela is living nowadays is NOT any of these.

What I said was meant as a joke. Chavez and Maduro repeat the word socialism so much that it's become a joke since they 100% of the times do the opposite of what socialism is. Literally, it was just a joke and not to be taken seriously. Of course, there's no way those unaware of this will understand this joke. I apologize, I didn't mean to hijack the thread or anything.

As I have said before, I will not talk about Venezuelan politic affairs anymore due to obvious reasons. I hope you understand.

Peace for everyone!
 
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Kin5290

Kin5290

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House_Of_Lightning said:
There's a rift within "socialist circles". "Socialism" has two definitions within these circles. One being the "state capitalist" ideological model of the USSR, PRC, Venezuela, Cuba, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, etc where the State assumes ownership of society and employer of labor and arbiter between production and the commodity market. The other being the stateless, commodityless, propertyless form of society that transcends Capitalist society the same way Capitalism transcended Feudalism. It isn't ideological but is instead simply "the way of life".

The former has won out as to what people think of when someone says "socialism".
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Considering that you listed multiple examples of the former, all of which either became failed states or transitioned to more capitalist economies sooner or later, while providing no examples of the latter illustrates just how achievable the latter is in a realistic world with scarce resources.

Of course socialism isn't a "stateless, commodityless, propertyless form that transcends capitalist society" in the eyes of the world. Because that's a fantastical pipe dream in a world where even the lowliest of farmers (the OG commodity producer) must be compensated for their labor).

Are Venezuela's problems having to deal with cronyism, corruption, and military thuggery rather than anything inherently "socialist"? Perhaps. But if Venezuela under Chavez was socialist then it doesn't speak highly of socialism if the economy collapses under the next autocratic ruler.
 
Stinkles

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Funky Papa said:
It should be noted that back in the day pretty much everybody to the left of Friedman's stinky mummy was singing praises to Chavez. Even superduper moderate faux left centrists in Europe.

Its only understandable that some people don't like to talk about those days.
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I do remember, but even as he was making promises of endless free education and cakes for the people, he was undermining democratic institutions and gathering the reins of power and it was a bad look very early on. Not too many serious people were hoodwinked, but it was amazing to see some early cutouts posting effusively on the other place, with mysterious reams of text and links ready to go at the slightest raised eyebrow.
 
House_Of_Lightning

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Kin5290 said:
Of course socialism isn't a "stateless, commodityless, propertyless form that transcends capitalist society" in the eyes of the world. Because that's a fantastical pipe dream in a world where even the lowliest of farmers (the OG commodity producer) must be compensated for their labor).
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Just as the concept of Capitalism in 2018 was unfathomable to a serf in 1418 so is a future divorced from commodity unfathomable to a worker's who's only experience in life is commodity production.
 
Donos

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Mugy said:
As someone who is still here (aside from maybe Machado), i hate this country. I didn't eat a single thing for christmas (only bread and water), i didn't get any presents (who can afford them?), and i don't eve have internet. Im stealing a wifi from my laptop because the people who works for the state company (CANTV), can't come to my place to fix it and they are asking for 100$ USD to solve my problem, money that i don't have and is not even the currency of Venezuela.

I haven't bought clothes in 3 years, and i just recently god a pair of sneakers because a friend from australia send me 100$. A user from ERA helped me build a computer that was supposed to be use to work from my home, but the constants blackouts killed my hardrives, so i cannot do that either.

Im doing my papers to leave this country like most people, but its expensive as hell. Of those 100$ a friend from australia send me via paypal, i had to pay 40$ just to get an appoinment to legalize my professional papers. I don't even have a phone either and i distract myself using twitter, resetera, and trying to state communicate with some other friends i meet on the internet, because all of my friends either left the country or they were killed.

This sucks, don't ever come here, ever.
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Man, what a grim post. Really sorry.
 
carlosrso

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Oct 27, 2017
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Mugy said:
As someone who is still here (aside from maybe Machado), i hate this country. I didn't eat a single thing for christmas (only bread and water), i didn't get any presents (who can afford them?), and i don't eve have internet. Im stealing a wifi from my laptop because the people who works for the state company (CANTV), can't come to my place to fix it and they are asking for 100$ USD to solve my problem, money that i don't have and is not even the currency of Venezuela.

I haven't bought clothes in 3 years, and i just recently god a pair of sneakers because a friend from australia send me 100$. A user from ERA helped me build a computer that was supposed to be use to work from my home, but the constants blackouts killed my hardrives, so i cannot do that either.

Im doing my papers to leave this country like most people, but its expensive as hell. Of those 100$ a friend from australia send me via paypal, i had to pay 40$ just to get an appoinment to legalize my professional papers. I don't even have a phone either and i distract myself using twitter, resetera, and trying to state communicate with some other friends i meet on the internet, because all of my friends either left the country or they were killed.

This sucks, don't ever come here, ever.
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You should try to flee to Brazil. As you have good skills you'll find a job here and live well until this nightmare situation in Venezuela ends . It is much cheaper and easier to reach than Chile.
 
LukeOP

LukeOP

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US is going down the same path if people like Trump and the Republican Party keep at it.

Putting incompetent people in charge of industries and agencies seems to also lead to disaster, no matter the type of government.
 
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